Police Beat for November 5

ANNAPOLIS AREA

Bike-theft sting

City police arrested four people yesterday in a sting operation designed to deter bike thieves. In the "bait bike operation," officers left a BMX bicycle unattended at West Street and Southgate Avenue then watched to see if anyone would take it.

Between about 3 and 6 p.m. yesterday they caught four people.

Police arrested a 12-year-old, a 15-year-old, Arthur James Reid, 42, of West Washington Street and Rodell Ford Sr., 59, of Clay Street.

The 15-year-old removed the bike seat, but didn't actually take the bike, police said.

The operation was an effort to combat bike thefts, which are common in the city, police said. Last year, 97 bikes were stolen in the city.

Tires slashed

Someone slashed the tires on five vehicles parked on Georgetown Road overnight Sunday, city police said.

Officers were called to the area at 9:14 a.m. Monday for the report of the vandalism. One victim, a 41-year-old woman, told police she noticed that her roommate's tire was flat, then found that a tire on her car had been damaged, too.

Police said someone had stabbed the tires on five cars in the neighborhood with a sharp object. The damage happened after 3 p.m. Sunday, police said.

BROADNECK PENINSULA

Man flees police

A Baltimore man county who police say broke into an Arnold home yesterday morning crashed his car on Route 100 while fleeing from officers.

Just before 10 a.m. a 62-year-old woman discovered an intruder in her home in the 1200 block of Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard, said Justin Mulcahy, a county police spokesman. When the burglar noticed he'd been spotted, he ran out of the house and drove away in a dark Saturn.

An officer located the Saturn, but lost sight of the vehicle. A few minutes later, police found the Saturn flipped in a ravine on the entrance ramp to Route 100 from Ritchie Highway.

The driver got out of the vehicle and ran through the brushy ravine to get away.

Officers searched the area and found the suspect on Mountain Road near Ritchie Highway about 10:20 a.m., Mulcahy said.

He was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with minor injuries.

Luther Green, 42, of 2749 Baker St. in Baltimore, was charged with first, third-and fourth-degree burglary, theft over $1,000, two counts of theft under $100, and fleeing and eluding police.

WEST COUNTY

Man assaulted

A man was assaulted and robbed Sunday afternoon while walking in Odenton, county police said. The man was in the 1300 block of Odenton Road at about noon when another man walked up and struck him in the head, knocking him to the ground. The man said that while he was down, three other men kicked him, then ripped a necklace off his neck, grabbed his cash and ran away.

During the attack, the man was cut with a sharp object, police said. He was able to get up and go to Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie, where he was treated and released.

Three of the man's attackers are described as black and between 25 and 30 years old. One was wearing a purple Ed Reid Baltimore Ravens football jersey. The other two men were wearing all-dark clothing. A fourth man, described as white and between 16 and 21 years old, was wearing a black skullcap.

Home burglarized

A 50-inch flat-screen television was taken from a home in Laurel last week, county police said.

A 48-year-old man told police he returned to his home in the 8500 block of Woodland Manor Drive about 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 28 and discovered someone had broken into the residence. Missing from the home was a Pioneer television worth about $3,600.

Police said the burglar broke the glass on a rear door to get into the home.

Nothing else was reported missing.

NORTH COUNTY

Drug arrests

Three men were charged with drug possession Oct. 29 when county police said they found crack cocaine and marijuana in their Glen Burnie home.

Following a month-long investigation, police served a search-and-seizure warrant at 6309 W. Furnace Branch Road at about 9 p.m. During the search, detectives said they found 6.91 grams of crack cocaine worth about $691, about a quarter of an ounce of marijuana worth about $207, drug paraphernalia and $11,800 in cash.

Clyde Wilson Lewis, 19, was charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

David Michael Legendre, 32, was charged with possession of cocaine. Howard Anderson Burris, 22, was charged with possession of marijuana.

The three men reside at the Furnace Branch Road address, police said.

Attempted robbery

A pizza delivery man was assaulted Friday night during an attempted armed robbery in Glen Burnie, county police said.

The man told police he was delivering a pizza in the 300 block of Gatewater Court about 9:30 p.m. when a man walked up and demanded money. When the delivery man refused, the man struck him in the head with what appeared to be a black semiautomatic handgun, he said.

The man then ran empty-handed in an unknown direction, police said.

He is described as white and tall, and was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans with a black and white bandana covering his face.